No Way Out
by GW Katrina
Summary: Sometimes freedom is but a hand away. Pre-series Yet another songfic, this time with Brother Bear.


/Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone  
  
But there's nothing I can say to change  
  
the things I've done  
  
Of all the things I hid from you  
  
I cannot hide the shame  
  
And I pray someone, something will come  
  
to take away the pain/  
  
He stumbled as he ran blindly through the woods. All around him was the green of trees and plants, but all Jien saw was red. Bright red, covering everything.  
  
He had killed her. He had killed his mother. Right in front of his little brother. Jien could still remember the stunned look in Gojyo's eyes. Those eyes had been wide, looking like pools of blood. The same shade as the blood trickling down the boy's cheek.  
  
Oh, gods, she had tried to kill him. He knew that his mother had no love for Gojyo, never had. But he had never expected her to go this far. He had stopped the beatings whenever he could, taking her away from the red that irritated her so much. But this time he couldn't. There wasn't anything he could have done, besides what had happened.  
  
Right?  
  
She had been standing over Gojyo with the ax. She had stood there, shoulders hitching as she cried. How could he not stop her? She was going to kill Gojyo. It had come down between his mother and his little brother.  
  
What else could he have done?  
  
Jien ran, tears running down his face.  
  
/There's no way out of this dark place  
  
No hope, no future  
  
I know I can't be free  
  
But I can't see another way  
  
I can't face another day/  
  
She couldn't believe he had done this. Her own father. He had sold her. And not only had he sold her, the person that was her 'owner' had a reputation of devouring those he found attractive.  
  
The carriage was dark, but Yaone didn't care. She was as still as possible during the bumpy ride, heart heavy. She cared for her father, but at the moment, she truly hated the man. Just because he feared the demon king was no reason to sell his only child into slavery and death.  
  
And she would die. There was only so many ways to 'entertain' someone. The thought made her shiver. Then she would be eaten and forgotten. Her only mark on the world would be as someone who had feed the beast.  
  
Tears ran down her face as Yaone sat in the dark, her grief silent. What had she done to deserve this?  
  
/Tell me where, did I go wrong  
  
Everyone I loved, they're all gone  
  
I'd do everything differently  
  
but I can't turn back the time  
  
There's no shelter from the storm  
  
inside of me/  
  
Kougaiji kept his hands at his side. He knew that if he moved them, he would be tempted to beat this upstart bitch. And the blue-haired witch was the key to freeing his mother. She had made all sorts of demands, this concubine of his father, and then given Kougaiji no choice but to help her.  
  
His father had been a madman, and Kougaiji had little grief over the bull demon's death, but then the concubine had placed the spell on his mother, trapping her in a pillar of stone. Kougaiji himself knew a little about magic, enough to know that this curse was far past his ability to break.  
  
Now he was alone. With his mother gone, so was the one person he had really been able to confide in. Being the only son of the bull demon had kept others away from him, both for his protection and the simple fact that they were scared. Scared of someone who was now dead.  
  
As all that ran through his mind, the bitch had continued to speak. Now she looked at him, superiority clear in her expression, then dismissed him. Kougaiji left. Just who the hell did she think she was, commanding him?  
  
Growling to himself, Kougaiji knew exactly who she was.  
  
The only person who could free the person he cared for.  
  
/There's no way out of this dark place  
  
No hope, no future  
  
I know I can't be free  
  
But I can't see another way  
  
I can't face another day/  
  
Lirin peeked down both directions of the hall before she eased herself out of the room she had been hiding in. Her elder brother had been out earlier, and that had been enough to ensure that she kept from his view.  
  
Mother told her that if older brother found her, he would hurt her. Lirin didn't like being hurt. It kept her from playing.  
  
Though she was tired of playing alone. There was nobody to play with in the castle, and any attempt to leave got her scolded and locked in her room for a long time. In the palace proper, the person closest to her age was older brother, but he always seemed so angry.  
  
Sometimes, Lirin was sure her mother lied to her. She didn't know why, but the girl was sure of it. It just hurt some to think that her brother, someone who shared a father with her, would hate her so much. If he wasn't so upset all the time, Lirin might have taken the chance to get to know him. Instead, she spent all her time hiding from him.  
  
In the dark castle. Lirin was really tired of being alone.  
  
/I can't believe the words I hear  
  
It's like an answer to a prayer  
  
When I look around I see  
  
This place, this time, this friend of mine/  
  
Yaone couldn't believe it. She had resigned herself to death. A long, humiliating death, and now here was a prince to save her.  
  
She knew who he was. He was Kougaiji, the son of Gyumaoh, rightful heir to his father's throne. Someone who should be called king, if not for the interference of his stepmother.  
  
And now, like a prince from a fairy tale, he was offering her life.  
  
"And here is where your lab will be set up. Just down the hall will be your rooms. If you go a little further.... Yaone-san, is everything all right?"  
  
Puzzled, slightly confused violet eyes looked at her, and Yaone wiped the tears off her face. It almost made her giggle, that confused expression. He had seemed so confident out there, yet once out of prying eyes, he seemed to change into someone so much younger.  
  
"I'm fine, Kougaiji-sama." She smiled, her heart light. This was her task. From know on, she would serve her Lord Kougaiji.  
  
/I know its hard but you  
  
found somehow  
  
To look into your heart and  
  
to forgive me now  
  
You've given me the strength to see  
  
just where my journey ends  
  
You've given me the strength  
  
to carry on/  
  
"You swear to serve me, to protect my holdings and my people against any who would hurt them?"  
  
"I so swear."  
  
With a small smile, Jien watched as Kougaiji reached down and helped him to his feet. "Then Jien is dead. In his place is Dokugakuji, my swordsman."  
  
The newly named Dokugakuji moved to stand just besides and to the right of Kougaiji. The dark-haired man wasn't sure how he had gotten lucky enough to meet someone like Kougaiji. The demon prince hadn't cared about what Jien had done, nor did he ask any questions about it. He had simply accepted the pledge of allegiance that the wandering demon had given.  
  
For the first time in far too long, Dokugakuji had a brother to look after.  
  
/I see the path from this dark place  
  
I see my future  
  
Your forgiveness has set me free  
  
On and I can see another way  
  
I can face another day!/  
  
Lirin slid around a corner, only to bump into a hard body. Losing her balance, the girl had started to fall. Strong hands caught her and helped her to her feet. Sighing in relieve, Lirin looked up, wanting to thank her savior.  
  
Then she froze.  
  
Kougaiji looked down at her.  
  
Kougaiji blinked in surprise at the young girl that stood before him. Her eyes had gotten impossibly large when she realized who he was. It took only a moment for he himself to realize who had just run into him.  
  
"Lirin?"  
  
The girl flinched, eyes almost panic at the sound of his voice. It was almost as if she was afraid of him. But why...?  
  
Then it came to him. The bitch was this girl's mother, and he doubted that she would want either of them to be very close. Idly, he wondered what horror stories Gyokumen had been telling her daughter about him.  
  
Her daughter. His father's daughter.  
  
Suddenly, Kougaiji wanted to find out what it was like to be a big brother.  
  
"It's okay," he said, resting his hands lightly on Lirin's shoulders. The girl stopped looking for escape routes and finally looked at him. Green eyes studied his features, and Kougaiji gave his best 'not going to hurt you' smile.  
  
He doesn't seem too scary. And he doesn't look like he's going to eat me.  
  
"I don't know what you've been told, but I don't want to hurt you."  
  
That was scary. How did he know that's what I had been told?  
  
"Your mother doesn't like me much. My mom is our dad's real wife, and I don't think your mother likes that."  
  
I frowned at that. "My mother is a hag. I know she wants something that isn't hers."  
  
That, apparently, was something he could appreciate, since he started to laugh. At the same time, my stomach growled. Still chuckling, older brother took my hand.  
  
"Come on, Lirin. Let's get you something to eat."  
  
"All right!"  
  
/I see the path, I can see the path  
  
I see the future  
  
I see the path from this dark place  
  
I see the future/  
  
"Lirin-sama! Please don't drink that!"  
  
"But it looks tasty, Yaone."  
  
"Hey, kid, if Yaone says to not drink it, don't you think it's a good idea to –not- drink it?"  
  
"But it looks tasty."  
  
"Lirin, you're being a brat. Give Yaone back her bottle of.... Yaone, is it suppose to be doing that?"  
  
"Smoking, ere, no."  
  
Kougaiji snagged the bottle from his sister's hand and threw it out a very convenient window, then hit the ground just as the wall shook from the explosion. Pushing himself upright, he glared at Lirin.  
  
"What have I said about messing around in Yaone's workshop, Lirin?"  
  
A total fake innocent smile was thrown his way. "Don't do it."  
  
"That's right. And what were you doing?"  
  
"Looking at all the neat things in Yaone's workshop."  
  
A vein throbbed over Kougaiji's eye, and he began to yell at his sister, to the amusement of Dokugakuji, and the distress of Yaone.  
  
Life continued on as it was supposed to.  
  
/I see the path, I can see the path  
  
I see the future/ 


End file.
